


A Taste of Honey

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Beekeeper, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hunk owns a bakery and gets ingredients from Shiro's bees and Keith's orchard, Multi, Polyamory, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, no really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12484012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: After a long week of working in the city, Hunk is finally able to head out to his boyfriends' home.Pure domestic cuteness ahead





	A Taste of Honey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sedna_mode](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sedna_mode/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Sedna! Thank you for helping me come up with this verse : )

“You’re in a good mood,” Lance commented, leaning forward against the counter.  The spray bottle and washcloth to clean off the work surface were sitting out, but a few crumbs still littered the space near the till.  Apparently, Hunk’s attitude was more entertaining than wiping up.  “Something up?”

Hunk hummed noncommittally as he passed behind Lance, packing up some of the leftovers from the display.  It was ten minutes till the bakery closed, anyway.  If they got another customer in that amount of time, Hunk would happily pull them back out, but it wasn’t likely at this point.  

Watching him in open amusement, Lance poured himself a coffee.  “Hm, lemme guess.  It’s Saturday, which means we have tomorrow off.  And that means you have time to drive all the way out of town, don’t you?”

“Guilty,” Hunk replied easily, in far too good a mood to let Lance’s teasing bother him.  “I was promised a meal I don’t have to cook.”

Immediately, Lance stilled, eyes wide.  “Okay, that’s a nice thought, but last time Shiro brought you lunch, you had me eat it.”

Color stained over Hunk’s cheeks.  “I’d already had something to eat that day.”

“Yeah, for breakfast.  He managed to burn soup, Hunk.  Soup.”

“Keith’s the one cooking,” Hunk finally admitted. “Or, at least, I assume so.  I left him a couple of recipes.  And I’m bringing dessert, so worse comes to worse we’ll have something to eat.  I appreciate that Shiro tries, anyway.”

Lance rolled his eyes.  “Not enough to eat it.”

“You ate all of it,” Hunk pointed out, putting a lid on the cardboard to-go box full of pastries and scones.  “Can’t have been that bad.”

“I just added salt until I couldn’t taste the burning,” Lance offered.  “It was definitely that bad, though.”

Hunk nodded, nose crinkled.  His boyfriends tried so hard, and Keith was really coming along.  But neither of them really had a passion for cooking and baking the way Hunk did. 

Honestly, Hunk appreciated the effort they put in.  Despite their lack of personal interest, they started to learn because they knew Hunk loved it.  Keith was damn good at prepping ingredients, and Shiro had at least developed a vocabulary to match Hunk’s (mostly from watching cooking shows on youtube).

They wanted to encourage Hunk’s passions, so they kept trying.

The happy mood came bubbling back, until Hunk’s feet felt like they were barely touching the ground.  He moves to the few tables they managed to fit in their little shop, wiping off the tables and turning over the chairs.  Apparently giving up on teasing, Lance finally wiped down the counter and worked on prepping for Monday morning.

At 6 PM on the dot, Lance marched over to the door and flipped the sign to closed.  “Go on and head out.”

“Hm?”  Hunk looked over, brow furrowed.  “Not yet.  I still need to wash off the baking sheets and bowls.  I’ll be out soon.”

“No, you’ll be out now.”  Lance tugged on the strings of Hunk’s apron, with the casual disregard for personal space that came from being childhood friends.  “Go have dinner with your boyfriends.  You don’t get to see them enough as is.  I can wash the bowls up.”

Eyes widening, Hunk bit his bottom lip.  “You really don’t have to do that.”  Even as he said it, he pulled off his apron, folding it over his arm.  “It takes long enough for two people.”

Lance scoffed and waved him off.  “It’s one night and I don’t have plans.  Just remember this at New Year’s when you’re drawing up my salary.”  He grinned, nudging Hunk with his elbow.

“How about I give you a day off soon?”

“I’ll take that too.”

Hunk finally gave in, pulling Lance in for a tight squeeze.  “Thank you so much, man.  Just let me know what day you need off.”  He hooked his apron on it’s spot next to the coffee machine and picked up his box of goodies, practically bouncing with each step.

Lance smiled back, watching him with open amusement.  “Yeah, yeah.  Go on, lover boy.  You’re too much for my single heart to take.”

“It’ll come if you stop trying to force it,” Hunk pointed out, for the thousandth time.  Lance ignored it just as habitually.  “Alright, I’ll see you Monday.”

Waving him off, Lance turned off the front lights, then rolled up his sleeves as he headed back into the kitchen.  Grabbing his jacket, Hunk stepped out into the sunshine.

One of the benefits of owning a bakery was that peak hours started and ended early.  At first, Hunk had gamely kept the store open later, and they still bothered on holiday weekends.  But it just wasn’t worth keeping the lights on and paying Lance to work those late hours, so Hunk had learned to close up Bread and Butter a little earlier.

Plus, it meant he got home plenty early to have a nice, relaxed dinner and get to bed at a decent time.  

Well, at least, that was the plan on some days.  Not today.

Beaming, Hunk pulled out of his parking spot and headed for the highway.

***

Marmora Orchards was located just under an hour outside of town.  Keith had assured Hunk on several occasions that it was  _ really _ a 40 minute drive, and he suspected that Shiro had made it in slightly over 30 minutes at least once.  Unlike the both of them, though, Hunk thought speed limits were mostly meant to be obeyed.  He’d never been in an accident and never gotten a ticket, and he didn’t plan on changing that.

Even if the idea of getting to the orchard that much faster was very tempting.

When Hunk pulled in, the sun was just starting to dip past the treeline.  He grabbed his box of goodies and took a deep breath, simply enjoying.

It was nice to be outside of the city.  Honestly, Hunk knew that if he asked, Keith and Shiro would happily come out to him.  They did often enough, and their schedules were just more flexible.

But Hunk loved being out here.  The clear sky, the lush trees, the floral scents in the air.  All of it was so much more relaxing than the constant movement and noise of a city.

Part of Hunk was quietly wondering how feasible it was to move out here and commute to work.  Probably not very.  He started his day too early to have to drive an extra hour each way, and it wasn’t like Hunk could afford to keep the store closed more than he already did.

Still, one day.  Maybe.  Assuming everything stayed on course.

Hunk gave the heavy oak door a cursory knock before he let himself in.  Already, he could hear the sound of unfamiliar voices, and experience let him know that Keith was listening to podcasts as he worked.  “Hello,” he called, stepping inside.  

“Hey!”  The podcast shut off, and Keith trotted into the hallway before Hunk could finish taking off his shoes.  Keith held out his hands, taking the pastry box, then went up on his tiptoes to greet Hunk with a kiss.  “How was the drive?”

“Quiet,” Hunk replied.  “I saw at least two people pulled over though.”  He arched a pointed brow at Keith.

Snorting, Keith kissed him again, cutting off the familiar bickering before it could start.  “Glad to hear it.   C’mon in, you can supervise my cooking if you want.  So far nothing’s gone wrong.  I think.”

Hunk smiled down at him, overcome by a rush of fondness.  Keith’s hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, several strands curling up messily as they pulled free of the hair tie.  Judging by the size and ratty state of his shirt, it was probably one of Shiro’s surprisingly numerous band t-shirts.  Hunk had yet to recognize a single logo, but when pressed, Shiro had been able to pull out actual  _ CDs _ of every one of them, so he was forced to admit they weren’t jokes.  There was a splatter of something on his cheek, so Hunk raised his thumb to wipe it off and taste it.  Tomato sauce, it seemed.

Blinking at him, Keith crinkled his nose and tried to look down at his cheeks.  “Was there something on my face?”

“Not anymore.”  Pressing a final kiss to the top of his head, Hunk nodded upstairs.  “You both in for the night?”

“I am.  Shiro was still out, last I checked.”  Keith pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text.

The jacket draped over the back of one of the living room chairs gave a suspiciously timed buzz.

Groaning, Keith dug until the pocket and pulled out Shiro’s phone.  “Damn.  Hey, before you get those shoes off, you mind going out back and pulling him from his babies?  If he doesn’t have his phone, he’s definitely lost track of time.”

Hunk nodded agreeably, shoving his heel back into his shoe.  “Alright, sure.”  He shot Keith a soft smile.  “You’ll be okay unsupervised for a few minutes more?”

“I’ll manage.”  Keith rolled his eyes, but he grinned.  “Or, if I don’t, you’ll be able to hold it over my head all night long.”

Huffing out his amusement, Hunk stepped through the hallway.  “I’ll take your word on it.  Be back in a few.”  Opening the door to the back of the house, he slipped out and into the fields.

Luckily, Shiro’s section of the field wasn’t too far back.  Marmora Orchard was several acres of land, dotted with apple trees and blueberry bushes, and walking the whole way took nearly twenty minutes without interruption.  But Hunk could already see the human figure wandering from box to box on the top of the hill.

As he got closer, Hunk pulled his jacket closed and zipped it up, then pulled out the hood.  On the wind, he could hear Shiro’s voice as he talked to himself, and the low buzzing of his bees.

“Now where is- there she is.  Hello, Your Majesty.  Careful there, don’t want you getting hurt.  I think your hive wouldn’t be too happy with me, then, would they, Aeryn?”  Shiro continued to chatter as he opened the frames of his bee boxes, brushing the creatures away casually, as if they weren’t perfectly capable of turning into a buzzing swarm of pain.  He wore his obnoxiously bright pink gloves and the white mesh hat, but otherwise he was just in a pair of jeans and a familiar hoodie.

One that Hunk had left behind, last time.

He’d be upset, but it was hard to be mad, watching Shiro.  He was just so  _ peaceful _ out here with his bees, soaking up the last of the warm weather.  

“If I get that back and it’s sticky from honey, I’m not going to be happy,” Hunk called, smiling softly.

Shiro started slightly, then carefully put the frame back as he waved.  “Sorry, I was wearing this one and forgot to switch out before I went to work.  I’ll wash it.”

Remaining a safe distance away, Hunk watched as Shiro closed the box back up and carefully checked himself for clinging bees.  Then he pulled off the mesh hat and headed over at a jog.  Hunk held out his arms in greeting, and he beamed as Shiro grabbed him in a warm hug.

“And why were you wearing my hoodie in the first place?” Hunk asked teasingly.

Shiro pulled back and cupped Hunk’s jaw.  “Because it smells like you, and we miss you when you’re gone all week.”  With that, he leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss.

Eyes closed, Hunk leaned gratefully into the kiss, his lips curled up in a smile.  He missed them too, and he knew they felt his absence when he was gone.

But it was really nice to hear anyway.

“Well, if you’d had your jacket, you would have known when we texted you to come in,” Hunk teased, his hands finding Shiro’s hips.  

Shiro paused, eyes wide, then patted over his pockets.  “Oh.  Oh!  Sorry.  Yeah, I lost track, or else I would have been there to greet you.” He gave Hunk another peck.  “Though, while you’re out here, you want to give the bees another go?”

Biting his bottom lip, Hunk considered.  Honestly, the entire idea of interacting with the hives still made him deeply nervous.  He loved the honey Shiro’s bees produced, and they’d elevated some of Hunk’s recipes in a way that had local foodie blogs handing out glowing reviews.

But they were still insects and they still made that awful buzzing noise and they would still hurt if Hunk startled them, and when he got nervous he started to jerk his hands around or bounce on his feet, which would only annoy the bees, which would make Hunk even more nervous-

On and on.

Sighing, Shiro kissed between Hunk’s brows, soothing away the growing wrinkle.  “Hey, it’s fine, you don’t have to.  I just thought you might want to try.  If you want a bee box on your roof for easy access, you’re going to need to be more comfortable with them.”

Hunk nodded, lips still pressed thin.  “Lance said he’ll look after them,” he pointed out, but it was a weak argument.  The bees were living creatures, and Hunk needed to be comfortable keeping an eye on them if they were going to be staying on the roof of his bakery.  He could already hear the reviews and imagine the business he’d get from having honey produced on site, and it would make it simple to sell Shiro’s jars from the counter.

But-

Not today.

“Maybe in the morning?” Hunk offered, by way of compromise.  “Right now, I really want to go have dinner and cuddle with my boyfriends.”

Shiro’s expression immediately softened.  “I do too.” He pressed their foreheads together, then finally pulled back and offered his hand.  Hunk took it eagerly as they walked down the hill back to the house.

As soon as they stepped in through the door, Shiro took a deep breath and beamed.  “Smells great, Keith.  You sure you didn’t sneak out to a restaurant and order take-out?”

Pausing, Keith turned around and arched a brow.  “Is that a compliment to my cooking or an insult to my honor?”

“Definitely a compliment.”  Shiro stepped out of his shoes and walked up behind Keith, resting his chin on the top of his head.  He reached out, probably to get some of the sauce on his finger, but Keith smacked his hand with the spoon.  “Ow!  Hot!”

“You were about to poke the stove, don’t complain to me about hot.”

Shiro grumbled disagreeably, and brought his hand to his mouth where Keith had hit.  He licked up the splatter of sauce, then beamed.  “Oh, it tastes great too.  Good job.”  Then he dropped a kiss on top of Keith’s head.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Keith agreed, pride clear in his tone.  He turned and offered the spoon to Hunk.  “Did I do your recipe justice?”

Stepping over, Hunk took the tip of the spoon in his mouth, then beamed.  “Perfect!  You did a great job with the spices.  Tasty and with a kick, but not overpowering.”

Keith’s smile grew, his eyes crinkling along the edges.  “Yeah?  Good to hear.  Should be just about done, then.  Set the table for me?”

“Sure thing.”  Shiro gave him another kiss on the cheek, right under his eye, downright radiating pride.  He reached over Keith to take a handful of plates, then moved so Hunk could follow after with cups.

As Shiro started to set the table, he spotted the to-go box resting in the center.  “Oh, hey.  We were supposed to be cooking.  Or, Keith, was.  I chopped some onions, which almost counts.”

“That counts,” Hunk assured him.  “And those were just the usual leftovers from the end of the day.  They’ll go stale just sitting around in the display, so I might as well bring them.”

Shiro hummed dubiously, but he still popped the cardboard top to peer inside.  “Oh, you have the lavender and honey cookies!”

“Made from wildflower honey I bought from a strange man wandering around in a field,” Hunk offered, grinning.

Beaming back, Shiro started to reach for one, then groaned and pulled his hand back. “I shouldn’t have looked,” he bemoaned.  “It’s so tempting.  Your cookies are too good, Hunk.”

“I know.”  Hunk chuckled, going back to placing the cups by each plate.  “You want water?”

“I’ve got it,” Shiro replied.  “I need to get out wine glasses, too.  Dr. Holt recommended a bottle last time I was over, and this is as good a time to open it as any.”

Keith looked over from the stove.  “How’s work coming on the new box?”

“Slow,” Shiro replied.  “Which, really, I can’t blame them.  Pidge and Matt are so in demand, and I can’t pay what the big tech companies do for their time, but they won’t let me take it over.”

“They like helping you out,” Keith offered.  “Besides, you don’t need another yet anyway.”

Shiro hummed and disappeared down the hallway.  A minute later he came back with a wine bottle and a corkscrew.  “I know.  But Janeway’s hive is starting to get pretty big.  One of these days they’re going to split, and I want to be ready to go.”

“I could help build it, if you want,” Hunk offered.  “I know I don’t do as much engineering these days, but I can probably be trusted with hammers and nails.”

Blinking, Shiro perked.  “That’d be nice, actually.  I don’t think they’ll let go of their project, but we could get one of the standard models and build it ourselves.  Save the high tech one for later.”  He gave Hunk a significant smile.

Hunk colored under the look and ducked his head.  Honestly, he needed to decide one way or another  Shiro hadn’t pushed him to make a choice, and he had told Hunk time and again that if he wasn’t comfortable, that was totally fine.  But it was such a good opportunity, so Hunk kept dangling Shiro along with maybes.

He’d decide soon. Just not tonight.

Instead, he moved to the cupboard and pulled out wine glasses, offering each to be filled, then settling them next to the water.  “It’d be a fun project.  I don’t have time to build much anymore.  I’ve missed it.”

“Sure,” Shiro replied, accepting the topic being brushed off without so much as a blink.  “Maybe one weekend you can take a Saturday and we’ll just take our time putting it together.”

Chest warm, Hunk imagined pressing together to read those tiny sheets of instructions, the last hints of warm, summer sun beating down on them.  Building together while watching Keith tend to his trees, maybe starting to pick the first few apples of the harvest.

It sounded perfect.

“I’ll let you know when,” Hunk replied, smiling.  “If I can’t manage to take off, I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good.”  Shiro kissed his cheek easily.  “Worse comes to worse, I can drive the truck out to you, and we can spend one of your Sundays working at it.”

And miss the sunshine and Keith and the harvest?

That was the reality of Hunk’s schedule, and he appreciated them being flexible around it.  But that didn’t mean Hunk liked it.

“Alright,” Keith called.  “Ready to eat?”

Shiro snatched his hand away from the dessert box.  “Yes, please!”  He picked up his plate to go serve himself.  “Whatever you want, Hunk.  Remember that.”  He gave Hunk’s shoulder a quick, warm squeeze as he passed.

Hunk wanted-

Hunk wanted a lot of things, if he was being honest.  But mostly he wanted more nights like this, with good food and loved ones.  He wanted to not be so far away from his lovers, so the creeping thought of ‘do they really need me?’ would stop crawling up after a few days of being apart.

But right now? 

Right now Hunk just wanted dinner and to kiss his boyfriends.

That, he could have.

***

Later, his stomach wonderfully full of Italian food and his own baking, Hunk watched with heavily lidded eyes as the couple on screen had their dramatic end-of-act-two fight.

One one side of him, Shiro was tucked securely, his head on Hunk’s shoulder.  He’d drooped over halfway through the movie, and Hunk expected the snorting to start any minute.  Despite the warm weather, he still hadn’t taken off Hunk’s hoodie, so he was putting off a surprisingly amount of heat.  The fingers of his prosthetic curled in slightly, hook around one of Hunk’s belt loops in a way that promised an accident later, but Hunk couldn’t bring himself to untangle them.

On the other, Keith watched with contented fascination, as if he didn’t know damn well how this movie was going to end.  He had one of Hunk’s hands over his own, and he idly traced the lines of Hunk’s palms with the fingers of his other hand.  It must have been a few months since he cut his hair last, because the inky strands managed to dangle all the way down to Hunk’s collar bone.

This wasn’t everyone’s idea of a perfect night.  Hunk knew damn well that Lance would have plenty to say about them all drifting off before ten.  He saw his boyfriends once a week if he was lucky, and he was going to spend it sleeping instead of having enthusiastic sex?

But there was time for that tomorrow.  Even if they didn’t end up sleeping together, Hunk couldn’t say he minded.  He loved sex with them, but that wasn’t why he spent time with them.

Being cuddled between them, Shiro’s breath ghosting along his jaw and Keith’s fingers rubbing circles into his palm, was why.

“Hey,” Keith murmured suddenly.  He picked up his head enough to glance at Hunk, eyes soft and serious.  “Let us know if Shiro’s bothering you about the bee box thing, okay?  I know he’s hard to say no to.”

“He’s not,” Hunk promised.  “I don’t feel pressured at all.  It’s kind of him to offer.  I know how protective he is of his bees.”

Humming his agreement, Keith settled back down.  “Yeah.  That and- well.  We want you to have something of us while you’re in town, you know?  It’s hard when you’re gone so much, but it’s nice to think that you have reminders with you.  There’s a lot of distractions for your time out there, after all.”

Oh.  Hunk hadn’t thought about it that way.  “I miss you both too,” he admitted.  “It’s hard, not being able to do this whenever I want to.  We make do, but...”

Keith nodded, not needing him to finish the thought.  Instead he kissed Hunk’s shoulder.  “We’ll be there if you need us,” he said.  “And if you want to come out just for dinner, that’s fine.”

“I know.”  Hunk leaned his head over, resting it on top of Keith’s.  “I’ll keep thinking about the box.  I just have to accept the idea, I think.  It’s a good one.  And I do have you with me in town.  When I bake with your apples or berries, or with Shiro’s honey, you’re with me.”

Pressing his palm to Hunk’s, Keith smiled against the skin.  “I’m glad to hear it.”  He paused, fingers twitching.  “Love you.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but each time it sounded like an effort to Keith.  It was clear those weren’t words he threw around often.

Just for Hunk and Shiro.

“Love you too,” Hunk replied.  “Love you both.”

He closed his eyes, letting the heat of them soak into him.  The movie continued to play, dramatic and predictable as ever, as the couple raced against an arbitrary clock to mend their relationship.

It wasn’t like that for them.  There was no dramatic misunderstandings (not anymore), no plots and secrets (Hunk hoped, anyway).

There was just the three of them, and the hours they could take to spend together, and the hours they counted to be reunited.

One of these days, Hunk would figure out how to balance those two times better.

For now, this was enough.


End file.
